


The End

by Fire_Bear



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Escape, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Minor Character Death, Self-Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-10-26 14:57:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10789002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Bear/pseuds/Fire_Bear
Summary: Arthur and Francis are going out with the clones to fight against the Trade Federation during what they think will be the last days of the Clone Wars. But Arthur has a bad feeling about it...





	1. The Master

**Author's Note:**

> Technically, I’m only writing this because it’s an option for the FrUK Spring Festival Week but, since this is a Star Wars thing and it’s Star Wars day here now, I’m posting it just now.
> 
> So, may the Fourth be with you and stuff.
> 
> Also, I made up a planet cause I was too lazy to look them up. I didn’t give it a name but, y’know.

_"Master," Arthur said, frowning._

_"Yes, Arthur?" said Francis, turning from the window. Behind him, the lights of Coruscant illuminated the Jedi Master, making his golden hair glow and casting his face into shadow. It was eerie and more than a little foreboding._

_He stepped further into the room, moving closer to Francis as he spoke. "I overheard a couple of the others talking about the big mission. Are we really going to be working with those clones?"_

_Francis nodded, stepping towards Arthur as well. "Indeed we are."_

_Arthur stopped within Francis's reach. "Master... I don't like this. Something feels off."_

_"Does it?" asked Francis, calmly._

_"Can't you feel it?" Arthur retorted._

_His Master paused. Then he reached out, cupping Arthur's cheek. Arthur leaned into the touch, eyes fluttering shut. It made him feel calmer, his worry slowly fading away. "This mission will – hopefully – bring peace to the universe. If anything is going to happen, we will be able to handle it. Won't we?"_

_"Perhaps," Arthur answered. But he reached up to grip Francis's hand, squeezing lightly. "But the clones themselves worry me. In the end, how are we any different from the Trade Federation? They have their droids and the clones are operating just like them. I am worried that we are using something we shouldn't."_

_"I know, my darling Padawan. But we'll be careful and nothing bad will happen to you. I'll bring you home, safe and sound." And, for added promise, he leaned down and placed a soft kiss to Arthur's hair._

* * *

_"Hide!"_

_"What? Master, what-?"_

_"Just hide, Arthur. Use the Force. Go."_

_"But... Is that...?"_

_"Arthur,_ go! Please! _You must get away from here. Go find Vash and Lili. Return to the Temple on Coruscant and warn as many as you can."_

_"I can't leave you, Master!"_

_"I'll be right behind you, my brilliant Padawan." A sigh. "It seems you were right. Make sure the Council knows – I have already suggested that you are ready to take the Trials. You will make a fine Knight, Arthur."_

_"Francis..."_

_"Just go. Quickly!"_

* * *

"Master!" Arthur couldn't help but cry out as he leapt out from his hiding place. He had waited for several agonising moments for the clones to leave but there was no-one else around now. No-one else to hurt Francis. No-one to save him.

The holes in Francis's chest and stomach were large and Arthur had no doubt that they were lethal. If he were to survive, he would need immediate medical attention. Arthur was sure no droids would be functioning enough to help them right now.

As soon as he reached his Master's side, he dropped to his knees, pulling his upper body onto his lap. "Master," he whimpered, tears making his eyes go blurry. The red of the rocks around them soon merged with the brown of his Master's robes. He took a breath to stop himself from sobbing. "Master," he said again, his voice faint.

"Ar... thur..." said a voice and Arthur tensed before he thought to look down. The shock of seeing his Master fighting an overwhelming number of clones before being gunned down had made him forget about his connection to the Force. Now he could feel that Francis was still alive – but barely. He wouldn't last much longer.

Blinking the tears from his eyes so he could see clearer, he gazed down at Francis. For once, his hair wasn't perfect, the strands falling every which way. His eyes were narrowed, holding back the pain. Seeing the blue amongst the horrid red made Arthur feel a little better for just a moment.

"Master," he whispered.

"What..." Francis coughed a little, blood dribbling from his lips. "What are you... still doing... here?" he asked with laboured breaths.

"I couldn't... I couldn't just _leave_ ," Arthur told him, taking a shaking breath when he finished speaking. "Oh, Master. What should I do?"

"What I told you to," Francis said, gripping one of Arthur's hands. With his free hand, he reached up to trail his fingers over Arthur's cheek. The action was one which regularly sent tingles across Arthur's body. Now, it only made his tears fall, dripping onto Francis's forehead.

"Master. I-"

"You can do this... Arthur. You're good enough... to be on your own... now. My darling... Arthur... please sur-" Francis broke off to cough again, his hand tightening its grip on Arthur's.

"Mas- Francis. I don't want to leave you. I don't-" Arthur broke off, realising that he was being selfish. Of course he should leave, warn the Council, find the other Jedi so they could face this new threat together.

Francis smiled, warming Arthur's heart and crushing it in the same instant. "Just remember, Arthur," he said, pausing to take a breath and to trail his hand from Arthur's cheek to his chest. It rested over his hidden pendant, the one originally meant to remind him of his mother until he had modified it so that there was a hologram of Francis instead. "Remember. I'll always be with you... if you continue... to follow... your path."

"Francis... I..."

"I know," Francis interjected. "I know, Arthur. My dear. May the Force... be... with..." He took another rattling breath and fell still, his eyes gazing blankly at Arthur with an expression of such love that Arthur ached. His tears fell freely now as he bent over his mentor and lover, his grip tightening on him. It took him some time for him to come back to himself but the sensation of people dying close by shot through him and he forced himself to stop crying. Wiping at his eyes with one arm, he slowly laid Francis on the ground. Once he had gently closed Francis's eyes – removing that particular shade of blue from his life forever – Arthur stood.

"And may the Force be with you, too, Francis."

Then he turned and hurried from the cavern they had been in, the crystals still as bright and beautiful as they had been when Francis had shown them to him. He kept his saber in hand but made sure not to activate it – the light would be like shouting his position to the enemy. When he reached the steps leading back to the surface, he paused, listening. Hearing no movement, he took them two at a time till he eventually emerged.

The battle between the clones and the droids was still ongoing, though it had since moved across the rocky terrain. Evidently, the clones had the advantage, one the Jedi had initially provided them with. They ploughed through the ranks of the droids, getting ever closer to their base. A few of them had been left to guard the entrance to the caverns in the event that the enemy would use them to attack from behind.

Arthur didn't let them get the chance to stand between him and his escape.

Using his significant powers, he pulled the rocks from the cliffs surrounding them down on their heads. He was sure he'd killed most of them but the ones left were now walled in. Lasers fired, the sounds thumping into the stone. None of them got through and Arthur took that as his cue to continue.

It wasn't long before he found Master Vash.

He lay with his eyes staring at the golden sky, his brow furrowed as usual. Half of his face was burned and there was a hole on the right side of his chest. Arthur bit his lip to stop himself from making any noise. He approached cautiously and soon confirmed that he was dead, just as Francis was.

But there was a message cupped in his hands.

Activating the hologram, Arthur watched as Vash's head moved one last time, panting. "Francis. Arthur. Save Lili. She's at the ship. Sent her to send word that everything-" The image broke off and coughed. When he'd caught his breath, Vash had slowly breathed out – and fallen backwards, finally dead.

Pressing his lips together to keep from making a noise, Arthur nodded once at Vash's prone body. "Yes, Master Vash. I'll make sure to take care of her. May the Force be with you."

And he turned from one of the best Jedi in the Order and rushed towards his own escape. It wasn't too far to the flat expanse of ground they had landed upon so Arthur ran as swiftly as he dared. Twice, he came across the clones and he used his the shadows to sneak past them. Finally, he reached the large boulders which had formed a narrow pathway to the valley below. The noises of the battle below echoed up to him, reminding him of the skirmish he had had to watch, helpless.

Forcing the memory away and focussing, Arthur peered around to find the clones standing guard over the ships they'd arrived in. The Jedis' ship wasn't far, elegant in the face of the gigantic transport ships required to fly an army across the galaxy. With nothing to do, the clones weren't paying close attention. So, with a wave of his hand, Arthur sent stones skittering down the large boulders at the furthest edge of the makeshift landing platform. The guards looked at each other before rushing off.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Arthur darted out, hurrying across the distance. He hoped Lili was okay, considering what had happened. Had she hidden as he had? Did she get a message to the Temple?

Was she waiting for the Jedi she thought of as a brother?

Swallowing his uncertainty, Arthur gripped his saber tighter, knowing he would need it. As if responding to his instincts, there was a shout and the clones began firing upon him. Arthur ducked a couple, let one pierce his billowing robes and blocked another with his blue weapon with a humming sweep. Deflecting shot after shot, Arthur leapt onto the ramp leading into the ship. He quickly hit the button to close the door and the shots bounced off the hull.

Shutting off his lightsaber, Arthur turned and hurried through the ship, scanning every room as he went. Finally, he arrived at the cockpit and that was where he found Lili, seated in the co-pilot's seat. "Lili!" he exclaimed, surging forward. "We have to leave. Now. Did you-?" He broke off with a strangled sound.

Lili's head had fallen back after she'd been shot, her shocked expression staring at the ceiling. Blood had stained her beige tunic, turning it an ugly black. Strands of her blond hair had slipped from her pigtails, as so often happened, and they framed her face. It made her look far younger, around the age of the oldest Younglings. Her hand had fallen into her lap from where she had attempted to send a message, the communicator on but not transmitting.

Arthur had already failed.

Clutching at his pendant, Arthur took a breath. Now was not the time for grieving, not the time for worrying about the other Jedi. He had to leave before the clones decided to blow the ship and him with it. With as much tenderness as he could spare in his hurry, he folded Lili's hands in her lap and closed her eyes. Then he took a steadying breath and sank into the pilot's seat. With a last touch to his pendant, he started the engines, clutching the controls tightly.

He wasn't going to fail his Master, his Francis. Somehow, he would find Master Yoda or Master Obi-Wan or Master Windu and they would protect the rest of the Jedi together. Maybe that Skywalker kid could help them – after all, he was supposed to bring balance to the Force, as far as he'd heard.

Taking off, Arthur swept over the clones, knocking some over from the force of his slipstream. He took one final look at the planet that had become Francis's grave. An intense ache rocked through him, making him despair on how he would ever be able to continue on his path, alone. He shook himself from his thoughts as laser fire burst across the ship's bow. Gritting his teeth, Arthur turned the controls and flew off, hoping no-one would give chase, hoping he would get to the Temple in time.


	2. The Padawan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote a second part!
> 
> Sorry?

Arthur set down outside the Temple, biting his lip as he kept the controls steady. Even from this far, he could feel that something was wrong. The Force had been disrupted around it but he couldn't tell by what. Something was keeping the truth shielded from him and he felt that entering the Temple unprepared would be unwise.

Yet, what else could he do?

Reaching up to the top of his tunic, he reached under it and brought out the pendant. There was likely no need to hide it, not in such a state of emergency, and it calmed him as he clutched it. He needed to go inside, had to find the highest ranking Jedi he could and let them know what had happened. And, if his senses were correct, it seemed as though he would need to help them as well.

He took a breath before he exited the ship, rushing to the doors of the Temple. Glancing around, he could see no-one. Everything seemed calm. But his unease grew and Arthur crept inside, keeping his steps light and his hand on his weapon. Letting his senses expand beyond himself but limiting them to within blasting distance, he felt that he was ready for anything.

But he was unprepared for the sights which met him as he made his way through the Temple.

Death surrounded him. Some of them had died without putting up a fight. Others had their lightsabers in their hands. A few had only half of their lightsaber, as if the perpetrator had sliced through it. All of them had clear signs of having been slain by a lightsaber.

_The Sith_ , Arthur thought and he drew his own saber, swiftly activating it as he rushed further in. If it was indeed the Sith, he had to get to the Younglings. None of them would stand a chance against a master of the Dark Side. 

As he ran, his mind worked. Evidently, the clones' attack had coincided with the rise of the Sith. Which would mean that the Sith was controlling them. Only Chancellor Palpatine had the authority to send them anywhere... Which would mean...

Finally, he came to the Younglings' training room – and froze.

Bodies were strewn across the floor. Most of them had fallen onto their face. Each one had a scorch mark on their clothes. At the other door, Arthur could see that there were a few bodies lying in the doorway. The sight sickened him but he couldn't stop staring around the room.

Blond hair caught his eye and he gasped, his hopes all but vanishing. He rushed forward, deactivating his saber as he went, and fell to his knees beside a pair of twins who had fallen face up, lightsabers in hand. They had obviously fought but been defeated. Arthur stared down at them in despair.

"Oh, Alfred," he murmured as he gently touched the boy's cheek. "Matthew..." Reaching over Alfred, he closed Matthew's glazed eyes.

The boys were still warm and he could pretend, for a moment, that they were still alive...

* * *

Despite rapidly losing hope, Arthur continued on throughout the Temple, hoping that someone had survived the assault. Everything was still and silent. He had to remind himself to breathe as he tried not to make a sound. His path through the Temple was lined with bodies, of Knights and Younglings. But he didn't see Yoda or Obi-Wan or the Skywalker kid. Perhaps they were alive and well elsewhere. How was he going to complete the mission his Master had set for him if he didn't know where they were?

A small noise caught his attention and he froze, thumb rubbing the button on his lightsaber. But, as he turned his head towards a small cabinet, he realised that it wasn't an enemy. It felt like a Youngling, patiently waiting. Cautiously, he moved towards them.

"Hello?" he whispered. "Who's there?"

After stopping a few feet from the cabinet, he waited a moment or two before the door slowly opened. There was another pause. Then the girl within crawled out, looking up at Arthur with wide eyes, evidently surprised. Arthur recognised her instantly: she had turned up at the temple around the same time the twins had arrived. He smiled at her and held out his free hand.

"Wysterea- Ah, sorry. Rea. I'm glad you're okay."

"Padawan Arthur," said Rea, respectfully. "You're... here."

"Yes. Come with me. We must search the Temple for any other survivors."

Rea nodded and came closer. "I think I know where Peter is. He usually hides behind the curtains." And, with that, she ran off to the nearest one. She gripped it, paused and then ripped it away so that window, Coruscant and a child's body could be seen. Crying out, Rea leapt back before the body fell onto her, letting him drop to the floor. Even from this distance, Arthur could tell it was Peter, slain in his poor choice of hiding place. He bit his lip and bowed his head, saddened by his loss.

A swishing sound came from behind him and, suddenly, he felt an intense pain lance through his chest. He gasped in surprise and swayed in his spot, staring down. There he could see a blue blade piercing him. That made no sense. Sith weapons were always red. Why was a Jedi killing Younglings?

The saber was pulled from his body and he staggered forward before falling to his knees. Shocked, he lifted a hand to the wound. He was finding it difficult to draw breath but he forced himself to do so, looking up at the shocked Rea. "Go," he hissed, wincing at the pain. "Run!" Whoever had attacked him kicked him, probably intent on shutting him up, and it made him topple forwards. At the last moment, he threw out his arm and used the Force to give Rea a gentle nudge towards the far door. The movement made him shift to his right and he fell onto his side, rasping breaths sounding loud in his ears.

Struggling to get his thoughts in order, struggling to move to help Rea, he watched helplessly as the person stepped over him. He squinted, trying to work out who it could be. Then his gaze fell on Rea's slow form, the will sapped from her as she tried to keep an eye on the traitor while moving, step by step, to the door. It was obvious that she would be caught soon if he didn't help her. So he scrabbled for his lightsaber and it came into his hand. Gritting his teeth, he activated it and the noise made the person turn.

Arthur dropped his lightsaber.

It was the Skywalker kid.

Why? Why was this happening? Arthur had thought he would have helped them. Instead, he was-

For a moment, it seemed as though the former Jedi would strike his head from his body. But a glance of disdain evidently confirmed that Arthur wasn't in any state to fight properly. Skywalker stalked off, hunting the poor Youngling who may have remained alive had Arthur not lured her from her hiding place.

His vision blurred. At first, Arthur thought he was finally slipping away. Then he realised that it was tears; of despair, loss, betrayal. After everything, after all that his Master had done for him and what had he done? Been utterly useless. His breath shuddered in his dying body and he felt something shift over his chest.

Reaching up, he gripped his pendant. With a click of a button, it flicked open. Arthur blinked away the tears and focussed on Francis's face, smiling weakly at the smirk he could see. He kept his gaze on it even as his vision faded and darkness ate away the rest of the room and the horror.

_As it turned out,_ Arthur thought,  _you really did stay with me till the end..._


End file.
